So where do I begin...
It's so similar to the Harvest Moon games, but it has a bit of a different feel to it. It's a bit more modern, and with a more western feel to it. It's a very colorful game, with a lot of fun things to do, so if you loved the older Harvest Moon games or the Rune Factory games, you'll probably enjoy this!
The story in this game is pretty basic; your grandpa is on deathbed, and you are inheriting his old farm. You see yourself tired of working at an office, so you decide to go there and check out that farm. You're met with a disaster of overgrown fields and a rundown house. No chicken coops or barns or anything, just a lot of overgrown land to work with. Like in other farming games like this (ahem, Harvest Moon), you'll need to clean up the land, and build up your farm, building the buildings you need, and plant crops to sell for income. You can also go to a mine and dig up some diamonds and gold and stuff, or gather shells at the shore. These also benefits as income.
If you're a hopeless romantic in all video games (like me), you'd also want to socialize with the people in town as well. Unlike other farming games I've played, you're actually allowed to have same sex marriage in this game. Instead of giving birth to kids, you can adopt them! A pretty cool feature if you ask me. More including for bi/homo/lesbian people :)
The ones you can date are a variety of people, and apparently the developer is working on a few more. They all have unique dialog and cutscenes, and of course their own personalities. The work put into these characters are very good, and there are also special activities happening during some of these cutscenes I was talking about, making it more interactive.
I personally fell in love with Sebastian
(Lol, that's so typical me, going after the most emo one).
So, to try not to compare it too much with Harvest Moon, I'll start on the list of what I liked and not!
- The graphics are old fashioned, but have smoother animations. It's like GBA, but higher resolution. I personally like it, though many others probably won't. It looks and runs good, that's what matters I think :)
- Gameplay is addicting as F***! At least for me xD I think I played a good few hours after release, think I was over 100 hours during the first week or two. I just loved it so much, and that it reminded me of one of the first Harvest Moon games I played (More friends of mineral town). It gave me a sort of nostalgic feeling. Not everyones cup of tea maybe, but I personally would suggest to at least give it a shot!
- The music is lovely as well. It gives you the right feel for the season you're in. Though it gets a bit repeatable after a few in-game years, it's still a bit cosy imo.
- There is controller support! And it works very well as well! I prefer to play video games with my Xbox controller, so I'm happy when games have proper support for it. The game even recognizes when the gamepad disconnects, putting you in the pause menu so you won't loose any in-game hours looking for the charging cable if you use a wireless controller x)
- Story is a bit generic, though the "bad" and "good" choices is really cool. You can be the bad guy, or you can be the good guy, and gain some different rewards for each side. This gives the game replay value, which most games lack these days.
- It is incredible that ONE guy made this game! Yes, believe it or not, but ConcernedApe made this game all by himself. That's impressive! The last couple of months after release he's been a bit exhausted after his 5 years of work, but he said he was back at it again now, and working on a content patch that will arrive within the next half year or so. He's working hard, and seem to be interested in adding new content in the future.
All in all this is a good game, and I highly recommend checking it out, ESPECIALLY if you like the Harvest Moon series! It's a good game at a low price! And it's coming to consoles in the near future as well! So if you're a console player, keep your eyes peeled!
Already played it? What did you think? Comment what you think!
Until next time~!
